Heart Disease

When it comes to health foods, you hardly ever hear about pears. More often than not, there is more information about prickly pears (or Opunti; paddle cactus) than there is about the actual pear from the Pyrus genus. While pears are rarely discussed, they do offer a plethora of amazing health benefits like decreasing your chance of heart disease, decreasing your chance of stroke, helping increase your immune system and many more. Here are seven amazing health benefits of the wonderfully delicious pear.

A number of previous studies have demonstrated that increased consumption of foods rich in polyphenols – a potent antioxidant compound, help to lower the risks of cardiovascular disease. A. Tresserra-Rimbau, from the University of Barcelona (Spain), and colleagues analyzed data collected on 7,172 men and women, ages 55 to 80 years, enrolled in the PREDIMED (PREvencion con DIeta MEDiterranea) study.

Among a large group of Midwestern firefighters, greater adherence to Mediterranean-style diet was associated with lower risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA). The study is the first to assess the effects of Mediterranean-style diet among a group of young, working U.S. adults.

The report explains that men who reported that they skipped breakfast had a higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary artery disease. The scientists determined that timing of meals, ranging from missing a meal in the morning to eating a meal very late at night, may cause adverse metabolic effects that lead to heart disease.

In recent years, a decline in both cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) has been seen in some European countries and the United States. However, it still remains a significant issue accounting for almost half (48%) and a third (34%) of all deaths in Europe and the United States.

Modest weight loss over 2 years in overweight or obese, middle-aged women may reduce risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

An important new acupuncture study from the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital successfully measured improvements in blood flow to the heart for patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), researchers discovered that needling two specific acupuncture points caused significant improvements in patients with CHD. Acupuncture successfully increased “blood perfusion of ischemic myocardium.”

Day in, day out over the past thirty years, thousands of people have come into my nutritional counseling office in search of alternative health care strategies to support their efforts to ameliorate symptoms associated with disease and chronic health conditions. They continue to present with cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, asthma, psoriasis, cirrhosis etc. Happily but disturbingly, I am here to say that many of them reverse their symptoms and go on to experience complete recoveries.